ecwashere7's Profile

Thank you for the feedback. We booked a reservation at Contra and we might try to walk in somewhere like Lupulo on the other night.

It turns out, we'll be staying closer to the meat packing district. I was hoping to go back to Pastis for breakfast but it looks like it's closed. Any additional suggestions for a fun, delicious breakfast?

My wife and I are planning to stay in Chelsea/Flatiron area for a couple days midweek in August. We haven't visited in a while because we started a family, but we used to visit pretty regularly. We've enjoyed meals at Colicchio and Sons, Esca, Maialino, and Spotted Pig among other spots. We're open to most cuisines but would love recommendations on a few categories:

-Breakfast (midweek)-Italian (not red sauce)-New American/ Gastropub - I don't like either of those descriptors but something like Spotted Pig-ramen/Asian - not Chinese or sushi- something fun - before kids, Toro in Boston was a fave- lunch (midweek)

I would second the Prohibition Pig for solid pub-grub and a great selection of beers. They serve beer from Hill Farmstead as well as Lawson's; both are fantastic local brews. The Alchemist Cannery is worthwhile stop to taste and purchase cans of Heady Topper. I suggest going early in the week to the cannery if you want a chance to purchase any cans.

Considering that MDI is a vacation spot, we weren't overly concerned about bringing our boys to a restaurant. We kept it casual, for the most part, but were still pleased with the grub we had throughout the week. We brought along our Fisher-Price traveling high chairs/boosters to most restaurants to eliminate the concern about whether or not a restaurant had high chairs of their own.

Breakfast:1. Sea Biscuits Cafe (SWH) - They were very accommodating to our little ones despite the tiny space they had. The pancakes were tasty, but I wish they served legit maple syrup for the cost of them. 2. Cafe This Way (BH) - Excellent. They were seasoned pros in handling any kind of family. These were the best blueberry pancakes I've ever had. Quite good.

I wish I could report on the other types of dishes from these places, but I was in the mood for pancakes both times we ate out for breakfast. The menus at both spots looked good with a definite edge to CTW

Lunch1. Side Street Cafe (BH) - One of my favorite spots on my trip. They were incredibly friendly and the menu was creative and tasty. My wife had a fantastic lobster roll and I had a delicious burger that was also topped with lobster. Yeah, why not?2. Finback Alehouse (BH) - Very good pub grub and an excellent beer list. They seemed to be comfortable with the little guys but I could tell that it wasn't a normal occurrence for them.

Dinner:1. Sips (SWH) - The food good but not great. I had a risotto that was pretty tasty but not amazing. My wife's pasta dish was a little lackluster. They were very friendly and accommodating to the little guys2. XYZ (Manset - just south of SWH) - I was surprised to find a decent Mexican restaurant anywhere in Maine let alone on the quiet side of MDI. The food was simple, but fairly authentic. My wife had cochinita pibil which was quite tasty and my chicken mole dish was also very good. They seemed a little flustered trying to accommodate a family with toddlers but were still quite friendly. I did notice other tables with slightly older children as well (4 to 10ish) but no other toddlers. 3. Thurston's Lobster Pound (Bernard) - tasty lobster pound food. The boys loved their grilled cheese while my wife and I devoured our lobster rolls. This was a fun meal for the whole family and an awesome location.

Ice Cream

Ben and Bill's - they had an expansive list of flavors and the ice cream was quite good.

Mount Desert Island Ice Cream - This place was a step up from your normal ice cream spot. They had some really cool flavors (Sea Salt and Caramel, Mexican Chocolate, Cereal Milk) that I really enjoyed. There is a local park/playground very close to their location, which was a good opportunity to let the kids run around.

We had many meals at our rental house and bought over-priced groceries from Sawyer's Market or the IGA in SWH. Of the meals we had out, we had a great deal of success.

My family and I will be vacationing on MDI in a couple weeks and staying in Southwest Harbor. We have 19 month old twins who are good eaters but we certainly don't want to infringe on others' dining experiences, so we were hoping to eat at nicer places for lunch and occasionally eat out for dinner as well (we'll be cooking at our cottage as well). We'll be skipping the white tablecloths.

We are very adventurous eaters and would love to try anything that is well made. Thanks for your help.

I'll second the meatballs. My other suggestion is to check out the menu that day. So many of their best dishes are seasonal ones. I was underwhelmed by the wild boar chops. It is such a lean meat that they need to keep them very rare. I think there are always better options on the menu. Chef Draghi does great things!

If you're not into touristy areas, I'd suggest branching out from Copley and Back Bay for dining. It would be a good central location to stay, but I think there are better areas for food. Boston is relatively small so you can easily take a cab from there to pretty much anywhere in Boston or Cambridge. I agree that Coppa and Toro are good options mid-week. Coppa takes reservations but Toro does not, so plan accordingly. I'd also suggest heading across the river to Cambridge to an area like Central square.

I too am interested in this, because I find this category to be seriously lacking in NH. Breakfast isn't much better. I feel like I can wake up hungover, scrounge through my fridge and pull together better food than what is available for brunch/breakfast in southern NH.

This is definitely an untapped market. I usually go to Republic for brunch, but it is not much different than their breakfast (plus the additions of whatever is on the blackboard). It would be nice if they'd have a few more sweet options. Their savory ones are strong, though.

pretty much. My mother used to work at Williams-Sonoma and she would complain all the time about how people would thoroughly abuse their pans and return them. She had to take them back. My guess is that W-S still has a policy similar to this. It may not be completely insane like it was in the past, but I'm sure that a pan that didn't meet your satisfaction through regular use would be accepted as a return.

If it were a small group, you might be able to swing it. They do have an area that is for walk-ins (or at least they used to), but Fridays may be tough. Boston is such a small city, that it couldn't hurt to explore multiple areas in one night. In one evening, I've been to Central Square (Cambridge), Harvard, Kenmore and the South End. It's kinda fun hopping around the city. One of the benefits of Boston being a smaller town. Try calling around too (rather than using Open Table) for a reservation. Often times you'll luck out with an opening or they won't release all of their tables to OT.

Nearby (other side of Fenway park), you can check out Citizen Public House and Oyster Bar. If you want to expand the search, check out any of the places listed already. My particular faves are Toro, Coppa, Myers and Chang and Via Matta.

Everything listed so far sounds great. I would add a trip to one of the many high-quality cocktail establishments. The Hawthorne and the bar at Clio are excellent choices. A meal at ICOB followed (or preceded) by the Hawthorne is an excellent combo.

I just re-read that it was LTD. I was commenting on my stainless equipment. Sorry. Still, All-Clad is built to last. If you ever have a problem with it you can get it replaced with almost no questions asked.

You can put a piece of all clad through a lot more than that and it will be fine. I had a house fire where half of my house got destroyed and the all clad pieces were totally fine. I took some bar keepers friend to them and they look like new and work the same.